One Hour Outside - how did it go?

Ever one for taking up a challenge, at the beginning of November I decided to join in with Zoe/Splodzblogz and try to get outside for an hour every day


Let's be honest and admit that November isn't the nicest month to be outside in, but I discovered some unexpected pleasure in it.

Below there's a long list of what, when, and roughly how long I was outside each day, which probably isn't really of interest to anyone but myself, so here's a summary.

The month started on holiday - at Appleby-in-Westmorland (above) - and ended with a day in Manchester (left) - both good opportunities to be out and about.









In between, there've been Christmas markets to check out, and quite a bit of walking to gigs or down town shopping, but most of my hours outdoors have been spent in the garden (easy on a sunny day with laundry to hang out and gardening to do), or walking round local suburban streets - nosing at what might still be flowering in other people's gardens or seeing the trees change from yellow-leaved to bare branches as the month progressed.





Nowadays there's nothing I need to go out for - no work to go to, no school run at set times - and days can easily merge into each other. Waking each morning with an intention of going outside has made me more aware of the weather - even if all I've done is look at it from the dry side of a window. The shortening of days has also seemed more apparent. November starts with the shock of having changed the clocks and the sudden early nights which follow, but by the end of the month days have shortened drastically as we head for mid-winter. It makes me think this would be a good exercise to repeat in January or February to notice the lengthening days.





Nov 1 - easy to spend an hour outside today. On holiday so lots of outdoorsy-ness, walking round towns, gardens and along a closed road at Pooley Bridge. Incidentally my fitbit logged 9 miles today!
 2nd - still fairly easy. Went to Dunham Massey, walked round gardens, saw deer
 3rd - back home, so laundry to hang out and garden to check. Also walking across Nottingham in the evening to Skerryvore gig

4th - laundry part 2 - one of those long never-ending sequels. I timed myself and spent 30 minutes just hanging it all on the line (and reorganising it to fit on) A good dry day so add in pottering round the garden, tidying here and there, admiring autumn leaves and the few remaining flowers, plus more messing about with laundry, and I easily reached an hour outside.
5th - damp  - short time in the garden, picking flowers before a forecast frost, hanging out/ bringing in laundry, 30 minute walk looking at front gardens - late dahlias and crab apples
6th - pottering, or at least messing about with pots, in the garden. Moving those containing tender plants to the greenhouse, sorting clean pots and putting away in the shed, removing the saucers from under the larger pots that stay outside over winter. A lot of fairly heavy work but sadly not many steps for the Fitbit

7th - walking, different route with late roses still blooming in a couple of gardens
8th - babysitting so not out at all
9th - cold and wet after over night frost. Didn't manage an hour, 40 mins at most, but felt better for getting out for a walk
10th - sunny - laundry, gardening, chopping lilac
11th - cold, breezy - spent too long hanging out a massive load of laundry, bringing it back in in rain, and putting out again
12th - 30 mins of laundry, filling bird feeders, and fetching laundry back in in drizzle, plus an hour's walk just as it dropped dark and the rain dried up
13th - cold but dry and sunny. A lot of messing about in the garden, followed by a 40 minute evening walk in the dark, seeing the moon which was full yesterday
14th - just far too wet, windy and generally horrible to go outside. I got soaked fetching the b low-over dustbin in
15th - Babysitting
16th, 17th - like any resolution once you break the habit of doing something you lose that impetus. Missing my hour outside on Friday, led to me not caring whether I went out or not over the weekend. Saturday was wet and cold again, and involved IKEA shopping (tiring but not outside). Sunday was a slow day but out in the evening to Rock City so at least half an hour of outsideness walking across Nottingham
18th - half an hour chopping lilac and pussy willow in front garden plus the general laundry hanging thing
19th - somehow forgot to make a note of this day!
20th - Chatsworth - browsing the Christmas market and a brief walk in the garden made up a lot more than an hour
21st  - accidentally lured into chopping pyracantha, so spend a lot more time in the garden than intended
22nd, 23rd - grandson sitting so not outside at all - it's nice to take him to the park when the sun shines but not at this time of year
24th - walking around Brinsley with ladders
25th - evening walk checking for Christmas decorations - not many yet (milder and managed to miss the rain)
26th - maybe not an hour (though felt like it) around car parks and shops
27th - down town shopping but with a walk from the openair car park near the river
28th - indoors all day doing household chores
29th - Chatsworth again - gardens and Christmas market
30th - Manchester - Christmas markets, and discovering quaint spots by the canal